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Pakistan Moves To Ban Charities Linked To Hafiz Saeed

Pakistan’s president last week approved the amendment to the anti-terror law which allows Islamabad to blacklist charities linked to Saeed.

Pakistan has amended its anti-terrorism law that authorizes the government to blacklist charities linked to Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed.

According to Voice of America (VOA), Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain last week quietly approved the amendments to the law, which the government only made public Monday.

Until now, the organizations sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council - Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) - were not automatically listed as terrorist entities in Pakistan, enabling JuD and FIF to conduct their charity-related activities around the country and collect donations, VOA reported.

According to VOA, Islamabad's move comes a week before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on terror financing holds a crucial meeting in Paris to assess Pakistan's efforts to choke funding sources to terrorist groups, including those linked to Saeed.

Washington has offered a $10 million reward for bringing Saeed to justice and warned Islamabad of repercussions in November after a Pakistani court freed the cleric from months of house arrest, citing a lack of evidence linking him to the deadly Mumbai attacks a few years ago.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the violence and alleges his house arrest was the outcome of US pressure on Pakistan.

Pakistan Moves To Ban Charities Linked To Hafiz Saeed

Pakistan’s president last week approved the amendment to the anti-terror law which allows Islamabad to blacklist charities linked to Saeed.

Pakistan has amended its anti-terrorism law that authorizes the government to blacklist charities linked to Islamist leader Hafiz Saeed.

According to Voice of America (VOA), Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain last week quietly approved the amendments to the law, which the government only made public Monday.

Until now, the organizations sanctioned by the U.N. Security Council - Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) - were not automatically listed as terrorist entities in Pakistan, enabling JuD and FIF to conduct their charity-related activities around the country and collect donations, VOA reported.

According to VOA, Islamabad's move comes a week before the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on terror financing holds a crucial meeting in Paris to assess Pakistan's efforts to choke funding sources to terrorist groups, including those linked to Saeed.

Washington has offered a $10 million reward for bringing Saeed to justice and warned Islamabad of repercussions in November after a Pakistani court freed the cleric from months of house arrest, citing a lack of evidence linking him to the deadly Mumbai attacks a few years ago.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the violence and alleges his house arrest was the outcome of US pressure on Pakistan.